Today I have the pleasure of being a host for THE A-WORD blog tour. The A-WORD is Joy Preble's newest in the A Sweet Dead Life series.

About the book: THE A-WORD

It's been almost a year since Jenna Samuel’s
stoner brother, Casey, bit the dust and returned as her guardian angel.
A year since Casey and his “angel boss,” Amber Velasco, saved Jenna’s
life and helped her foil the bad guys—more or less. A year in which
Jenna has solved the true mystery of the universe: how to get one Ryan
Sloboda to ask her out.

Jenna’s feeling mighty cheery about life and love. But Casey, whose
doomed relationship with Lanie Phelps (who has no idea her boyfriend is,
well, dead) isn’t doing much to distract him, has his own big question:
Why is he still hanging around?

Bo Shivers, a heavenly head honcho Jenna and Casey didn't even know
existed, might have the answer. Bo knows something big is coming.
Something that might just change everything for Jenna Samuels, who once
again finds herself up to her non-winged shoulders in heavenly secrets
of global proportions—just as she’s finally found the perfect Homecoming
Dance dress.

About the author:

Joy Preble is the author of the popular and highly acclaimedDreaming Anastasia series as
well as The Sweet Dead Life, the
prequel to The A-Word. A former
English teacher, Joy grew up in Chicago and is a graduate of Northwestern
University. She is now a full-time writer and lives with her family in Texas,
where she has learned to say "y'all" without any hint of irony.WEBSITE

1. Using the phrase, "this is a story about...," supply five words to describe The A-Word.

This is a story about love, angels and universe quirkiness.

2. Which character in this book (main or secondary) did you enjoy writing about?

I love all my characters in this book, but Jenna is always my favorite to write. Her voice is sassy and ironic and she has quite the interesting world view. Plus she gets her first love! Jenna Samuels and Ryan Sloboda have the sweetest romance I have ever written! (and that is saying something because I adored writing the Anne/Ethan love story in the DREAMING ANASTASIA series.

3. What inspired you to write The A-Word?and did you have a inspiration board i.e. pinterest?

THE A-WORD is the sequel to last year’s THE SWEET DEAD LIFE. So the primary inspiration was that my editor and I weren’t done with Jenna and Casey Samuels quite yet. The larger mystery of TSDL--who was trying to weaponize memory drugs and why and what does it have to do with Jenna in the long run?-- was not fully solved. Plus we didn’t know how Amber ended up as an angel. And Casey’s fuller angel destiny was also known. And of course I’d hinted that Jenna was crushing on Ryan Sloboda… So the main motivation was that I wanted to continue the story! Readers and reviewers were so positive about SWEET DEAD LIFE that I was thrilled when Soho Press asked for another book!

4. What is your favorite line in the A-Word?

I’ve got so many! But one of them is Casey’s: “You need to be using your superpowers to help the universe, not getting boys to look at my sister’s ass.” Yeah. I love that line.

5. If The A-word were turned into a motion picture and you had control over whom would be cast. Who would you pick?

Honestly, my preference is to pick unknowns. Because then they will become famous for portraying my characters and how cool is that? Besides, how many more blockbusters can Shailene Woodley do, right?

6. What is your inspired you to become a writer?

I have always loved to read. I have always loved storytelling and movies and books and fairy tales and fiction of all sorts. And I’ve written stories and plays since I was very little. Eventually, I took the next step to do so professionally. It’s been awesome!

7. Do you have soundtrack that you played during the time that you wrote The A- Word and could you share that with me?

THE A-WORD was written to a lot of country music and country crossover: But one song that kept playing over and over ended up in the book. It’s an older song by Steve Earle called Copperhead Road, but the line dance is still really popular here in Texas! For many vague reasons not necessarily attached to the lyrics but more to the music itself and the bagpipe sound that opens it up, Copperhead Road felt like a Casey song to me. And even though A-WORD is narrated by Jenna and is her love story, it’s still really Casey’s journey that sits at its core. And although an angel, Casey is still in many ways a sixteen year old boy at heart. My own son’s high school mascot is the Highlanders and before every football game, a bagpiper leads the team onto the field. There is something stark and beautiful about it that just touches my heart. And I guess it’s that sound -- and the movements of the line dance itself-- that felt so much like the hope and sadness mixed up in Casey’s story.

Hello! I am the Ravenous Reader and I love to read and find my happiness in devouring as many YA novels as I possibly can. When I am not reading then you can find me chatting up books with my blogging buddy and bookish friends to the point of distraction. I am also extremely fortunate to live in an area that has a plethora or YA events that I love chronicling on my Instagram account.